Giants lose another game decided by the slimmest of margins

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants might have been salivating at the thought of facing Hyun-Jin Ryu on Thursday, having knocked him around for eight runs in two innings in their first meeting this season.

Instead, the Giants faced the Ryu who has been virtually flawless on the road this season, and they suffered a similar fate.

Ryu limited the Giants to four hits and one walk in seven shutout innings before he turned over the ball to the Los Angeles bullpen in a 2-1 Dodgers victory at AT&T Park before a sun-drenched, sellout crowd.

Ryu's masterful performance served as a marked contrast to his outing against the Giants in the Dodgers' home opener April 4.

That game marked the shortest outing in Ryu's major league career and the most runs he allowed in a game.

In Ryu's four other starts, all away from Dodger Stadium, he has not allowed a run in 26 innings.

"We hit some balls decent, but Ryu was pretty good today, too, though," Giants catcher Buster Posey said. "He did a good job of pitching off his heater, and everything kind of came out looking the same way."

The Giants' only real threats came in the eighth and ninth innings, when they got two runners aboard in each.

They did so in the eighth against former Giants closer Brian Wilson with only one out. However, Wilson struck out Pablo Sandoval and got Posey on a fly ball to center.

In the ninth, Dodgers closer Kenley Jensen allowed a two-out, bloop single to Ehire Adrianza, which scored Brandon Belt. Jensen saved the game when he got pinch-hitter Brandon Crawford on a fly to left.

"We had them on the ropes there in the eighth and the ninth," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. " ... We had the right guys up there. That's all you can ask for. It didn't quite happen today."

That about summed up Giants starter Madison Bumgarner's outlook, too. He labored through 4 1/3 innings on a day when he felt as if his pitching wasn't commensurate with the results.

Bochy removed Bumgarner after a run-scoring single in the fifth extended the Dodgers' lead to 2-0 and Bumgarner's pitch count to 99.

Time and again, Bumgarner felt as if he hit his spot. Too often, batters fouled off those pitches or home plate umpire Seth Buckminster had a different take on whether the pitches were balls or strikes.

"I feel like I made some pretty good pitches there ... in some big situations," Bumgarner said. "Things just didn't work out in our favor today."

Things keep working against Sandoval on an almost daily basis.

Less than 24 hours after he delivered the game-deciding run, Sandoval went hitless in four at-bats Thursday and saw his average dip to .175.

He swears that he isn't affected by injury, lack of confidence or stalled contract negotiations.

"You got good games, you got bad games, so you have to keep humble and keep your head up," Sandoval said. "Try to do the best that you can out there, try to do all the things you can do, keep working hard. Good things are going to come."

Sandoval batted third Thursday, as he has done in 15 of the first 16 games this season. Bochy said it's obvious that Sandoval is pressing and that a change might do him some good.

"Maybe I'll drop him down in the order and try to take some pressure off him," Bochy said. "He's a good hitter."

Sandoval said he's amenable to hitting anywhere in the order, even ninth. He remains confident that the hits are about to flow freely before long.

n Shortstop Crawford (right hamstring) and center fielder Angel Pagan (right knee) didn't start Thursday's game. Both entered the game as pinch hitters. Crawford took ground balls before Thursday's game and said he is hopeful of starting Friday.

n Reliever Jeremy Affeldt pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings for the Giants in his 2014 debut. He missed the first 14 games of the season with a right knee sprain. The Giants activated Affeldt from the disabled list Wednesday.

n Adrianza entered Thursday's game as part of a double move when Bochy removed Bumgarner in the fifth. Adrianza exited with a double, two singles and a batting average that soared from .059 to .200.

"What a great day he had, and that goes unnoticed when you lose a game like this," Bochy said. " ... That should do a lot for his confidence."

n Posey took a foul ball off his chest, the latest in a line of nicks and bruises. Bochy said he intends to speak with Posey before Friday's game in San Diego and that there's a chance Posey won't catch the first game of the three-game series against the Padres.

n The Giants on Thursday played their seventh straight one-run game. The last time they played in seven consecutive one-run games was from Aug. 11-17, 1910, according to STATS, Inc.

The Giants' streak of allowing three walks or fewer ended at 15 games Thursday. The Dodgers coaxed four walks from Bumgarner and Yusmeiro Petit.

The 15 straight games tied for the third-longest streak in the Giants' era in San Francisco. The record is 18 straight games, from July 5-28, 2012.

n Wilson pitched the eighth for the Dodgers. Fans that once adored Wilson greeted him with a chorus of boos.